Fed official wants more data to “validate” rate cuts

The official reiterated that his expected cut timeline has been pushed up after inflation fell faster than expected and unemployment rose faster. But he remained cautious. “I don’t want to get into a situation where we have to cut and then raise rates,” Raphael Bostic said Wednesday at an event hosted by the Stanford Georgia Club in Atlanta. “So if I had to err on the side of one, it would be to wait a little longer to make sure that we don’t have to do that.”

Earlier in an interview at Jackson Hole, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic began to shift his stance on rate cuts, having spent most of the past year advocating for a single 0.25% rate cut, which should come by the end of 2024. In a speech on Wednesday, Raphael Bostic said upcoming reports on inflation and jobs will be “important signals” for Fed policymakers to be more certain that the trends they are watching are continuing.